Types of Silk: Mulberry, Wild Silk and Common Weaves Explained
There are two ways to sort the types of silk: by the insect that spun the thread, and by how that thread is made into fabric. Mulberry silk comes from the domesticated silkworm Bombyx mori, while tussah, eri and muga silk come from other moths, some wild and some kept by people. Charmeuse, habotai and crêpe de chine are fabric names that tell you the weave, not silk types. On an EU fibre label, silk from any of these insects is simply called “silk”.
Fibre or fabric: two ways to sort silk
Silk is a natural fibre; satin is a weave, a way of constructing fabric that can be done in many fibres. Silk woven in a satin weave is called silk satin, and that is the one place where the two words genuinely meet. Our guide to silk vs satin covers that pair in detail. Whether silk is natural or synthetic, and what the fibres that imitate it are made of, is explained in our guide is silk natural or synthetic.
A name such as “mulberry charmeuse” combines a fibre word, mulberry, which says which silkworm made the thread, with a fabric word, charmeuse, which says how the thread was woven. Glossaries of the different types of silk often mix the two kinds of word in one list.
Types of silk by silkworm
Silk is the fibre that silkworms spin into their cocoons. Our guide “What is silk?” explains what the fibre is made of and how a cocoon becomes fabric, and our comparison of cotton vs silk pillowcases sets this animal fibre against a plant fibre. Mulberry silk is silk from Bombyx mori, the domesticated silkworm that feeds on mulberry leaves. Non-mulberry silk is the name researchers use for silk from other moths, and the best known of these belong to the family Saturniidae.
A grade such as 6A is a rating for raw silk that assesses several qualities of the thread together.
| Silk | Insect | Domesticated or wild | What the sources describe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mulberry silk | Bombyx mori | Domesticated | Fed on mulberry leaves |
| Tussah (tasar) silk | Several Antheraea species | Wild or semi-domesticated | Brownish and coarser than cultivated silk |
| Eri silk | Samia ricini | Domesticated | The only domesticated non-mulberry silkworm |
| Muga silk | Antheraea assamensis, also given as Antheraea assama | Semi-domesticated | Golden silk; the moth is endemic to Northeast India |
A 2023 study comparing Bombyx mori with twenty Saturniidae species found flat, ribbon-like filaments in the Saturniidae silks it examined, against the triangular cross section of Bombyx mori filaments, and a relatively high content of calcium oxalate, a mineral, in Antheraea cocoons. Wild silkmoth cocoons can be difficult or impossible to reel under conditions that work well for Bombyx mori, and a 2011 study of the silkmoth Gonometa postica traced this to minerals reinforcing the cocoon.
Wild silk and tussah: what the names mean
The difference between mulberry silk and wild silk is the insect: mulberry silk comes from the domesticated Bombyx mori, while wild silk is a loose umbrella name, often used for silk from the Antheraea species behind tussah. CAMEO, the materials database of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, describes tussah silk as silk from wild silkworms and treats “Tussah, or wild silk” as one term.
Tussah itself is not one species: a 2022 study notes that the name, also given as tasar, can mean a variety of Antheraea moths from tropical to temperate climates in southwest China and India. The same study counts Samia silkworms among the sources of wild silk, yet eri comes from Samia ricini, the only domesticated non-mulberry silkworm, and the muga moth is semi-domesticated. Non-mulberry silk is therefore the more precise term for any silk that does not come from Bombyx mori.
What the label says
On an EU label, the fibre composition may only use the names listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011, and there silk is defined as “fibre obtained exclusively from silk-secreting insects”. Annex I has a single entry for silk, so tussah, eri, muga and mulberry are not fibre names of their own; they describe the silk but sit outside the fibre name. Some sellers write “100% mulberry silk”; “silk” is the fibre name, and “mulberry” is the seller's addition to it.
A blend is labelled with the name and percentage by weight of every fibre it contains, in descending order. Fabrics sold as artificial silk are not silk under this regulation, which does not allow the names in Annex I to be used for other fibres, whether on their own, as a root or as an adjective.
Types of silk fabric: from thread to weave
Before weaving, silk becomes thread in one of two ways. Reeled silk is a long strand unwound from several cocoons together; spun silk is a yarn made from short silk fibres and silk waste.
In a satin weave, as CAMEO describes it for charmeuse, the warp threads cross over four or more weft threads, and these floating threads give the front a smooth, shiny finish while the back stays dull. In a plain weave, each weft thread goes over one warp thread, then under the next, and so on.
Charmeuse silk is a lightweight silk fabric in a satin weave, with a smooth, shiny face and a dull back. CAMEO notes that charmeuse has a different ratio of face threads from plain satin and is lighter in weight, and that it may be made of silk, polyester or rayon, so the name alone does not say which fibre was used. Crêpe charmeuse is a lightweight silk satin with a crêpe reverse, according to the Fairchild Books Dictionary of Textiles as cited in the Wikipedia article “Crêpe (textile)”.
Habotai silk is a soft plain-weave fabric made with raw silk, which gives it an uneven texture, and it was originally woven in Japan. CAMEO lists China silk as another name for it, and habotai is sold by weight in momme, the unit of silk fabric weight.
Crêpe de chine silk is a fine, lightweight fabric in a plain weave whose weft yarns are given a tight crêpe twist, and the Fairchild dictionary notes that the same fabric can also be made from cotton or worsted wool.
| Fabric | Weave | Described as | Weight as described |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charmeuse | Satin weave | Smooth, shiny front; dull back | Lightweight, lighter than plain satin |
| Crêpe charmeuse | Satin weave | Silk satin with a crêpe reverse | Lightweight |
| Habotai | Plain weave | Soft, with an uneven texture | Sold by weight in momme |
| Crêpe de chine | Plain weave with a tightly twisted weft | Fine | Lightweight |
Our guide to momme explains how the weight of silk fabric is measured. Momme and weave are independent: a satin weave and a plain weave at the same momme feel quite different.
How to read a silk product name
A silk product name can hold four separate facts: the fibre, with or without a descriptor such as mulberry or tussah; the fabric and its weave, such as charmeuse or habotai; the weight in momme; and a raw-silk grade such as 6A. A listing that names only one of them leaves the other three open, and a fabric name on its own does not even say that the material is silk.
The same applies to care. The fibre name doesn't set a temperature: two fabrics made from the same fibre can carry different instructions, because finishing, dyeing and construction all have a say. Our guide on how to wash silk sets out the washing steps.
What a silk type does not tell you
A silk type names the insect behind the fibre. It is not a quality grade, and it does not say how a particular fabric was made or finished.
Of the seller pages we read, several called one kind of silk the finest or the best without citing a source. In the sources we read, we found none that compares silk types for sleep or for hair.
What our silk pillowcases are made of
The RENESSY silk pillowcases use 100% organic mulberry silk with a weight of 22 momme, and both faces of each case are silk. Mulberry silk comes from silkworms raised on the leaves of the mulberry tree, and momme measures the weight of silk fabric. The raw silk is rated grade 6A. Grade 6A is the top class in the Chinese raw-silk standard (GB/T 1797). GOTS, the Global Organic Textile Standard, certifies textiles made from organically grown fibres. The silk is GOTS certified. OEKO-TEX MADE IN GREEN is a label for textiles tested for harmful substances and made in traceable, certified production. The pillowcases carry the OEKO-TEX MADE IN GREEN label, and the label ID M27MNB1V9 can be checked on the OEKO-TEX website. The pillowcases carry the Dermatest 5-Star seal and the Dermatest Sensitive Skin seal, dermatologically tested for sensitive skin. A hidden YKK zip closes each case.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main types of silk?
By the insect that spins it, the main types of silk are mulberry silk from the domesticated Bombyx mori and the non-mulberry silks tussah, eri and muga. Names such as charmeuse, habotai and crêpe de chine describe how silk is woven, not which silk it is.
Is tussah silk real silk?
Yes, tussah is real silk: it comes from Antheraea silkworms, and EU law defines silk as “fibre obtained exclusively from silk-secreting insects”. On an EU label it carries the fibre name “silk”, since the regulation has no separate name for tussah.
What is the difference between charmeuse and habotai?
Charmeuse is a lightweight fabric in a satin weave with a smooth, shiny face and a dull back, while habotai is a soft plain-weave fabric made from raw silk, with an uneven texture. Both describe the fabric, not the silkworm.
Is mulberry silk the same as charmeuse?
No, mulberry silk is a fibre and charmeuse is a fabric named for its weave. Mulberry silk names the silkworm, Bombyx mori, and charmeuse names a satin weave construction that can also be made from polyester or rayon, so a fabric can be both, either or neither.
Sources
- American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. spun silk. https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=spun+silk
- Arunkumar KP, Sahu AK, Mohanty AR, Awasthi AK, Pradeep AR, Urs SR, Nagaraju J. Genetic diversity and population structure of Indian golden silkmoth (Antheraea assama). PLoS ONE. 2012;7(8):e43716. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0043716
- Charmeuse. CAMEO, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. https://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Charmeuse
- Gheysens T, Collins A, Raina S, Vollrath F, Knight DP. Demineralization enables reeling of wild silkmoth cocoons. Biomacromolecules. 2011;12(6):2257-2266. doi:10.1021/bm2003362
- Habutai (habotai). CAMEO, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. https://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Habutai
- Lee B, Pires E, Pollard AM, McCullagh JSO. Species identification of silks by protein mass spectrometry reveals evidence of wild silk use in antiquity. Scientific Reports. 2022;12:4579. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-08167-3
- Pal S, Kundu J, Talukdar S, Thomas T, Kundu SC. An emerging functional natural silk biomaterial from the only domesticated non-mulberry silkworm Samia ricini. Macromolecular Bioscience. 2013;13(8):1020-1035. doi:10.1002/mabi.201300013
- Plain weave. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_weave
- Random House Unabridged Dictionary, via Dictionary.com. reeled silk. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/reeled-silk
- Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products, Articles 5 and 9 and Annex I.
- Schmidt T, Puchalla N, Schendzielorz M, Kramell AE. Degumming and characterization of Bombyx mori and non-mulberry silks from Saturniidae silkworms. Scientific Reports. 2023;13:19504. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-46474-5
- Tortora PG, Johnson I. The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Textiles. 8th edition. London: Bloomsbury Academic; 2013. p. 157, as cited in Wikipedia, “Crêpe (textile)”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%AApe_de_Chine
- Tussah silk. CAMEO, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. https://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Tussah_silk